Wednesday 6th April 2011

What a scorcher, but I only managed to get outside for the cycle into work.  8x Chiffchaffs, 1x Willow Warbler, a Blackcap singing but not seen (first for the year).  Other birds seen along Gallagher's Gallop and the East Malling paddocks included 4x Bullfinches, 1x Nuthatch, 1x Yellowhammer, 4x Linnet, 2x Green Woodpecker, 1x Sparrowhawk (with a charm of Goldfinches 'bouncing' nosily above it!), 1x Little Owl and at long last my first Swallow of the year...phew!  But no Wheatear - and there were 25 in a paddock in Crayford this morning!!!

Back at home in Barming this evening, 2x Jackdaws, 1x Pied Wagtail, 2x Collared Dove, 3x House Sparrows, 1x Wood Pigeon, 2x Chaffinch all sat out on my roof (not necessarily at the same time) while I mowed the lawn.

Monday 5th April

Work, work, work - only a few snippets from the last week as I've been working my butt off!  Common Buzzard over S (Research Station) on Monday 28th March.  The North Street allotment Nuthatch became two on Saturday 2nd April, let's hope they breed.

A Small Tortoiseshell was found near Four Acres, East Malling.  Today saw my first Willow Warbler of the year, singing along the path between Gallagher's Gallop and the Quarry, with up to 5x Chiffchaffs nearby.  Masses of Stock Doves (+40) on the research station, feeding on some newly-harrowed land.  Wood Anemones were in full bloom in Oaken Wood and signs of Bluebell flowers.

Still no Wheatear or Swallow, only a Wood Pigeon up on the hedge by the paddocks, but I'm off to Cornwall at the weekend so I imagine I'll see my first of the year down there.

Friday 25th March 2011

A thick mist this morning but pay to finding any grounded migrants, I could hardly make out the gallop and paddock fences!  A couple of Little Owls were found in to different locations and more Chiffchaffs were heard.

And when the fog clears where do you start looking for the Wheatear!

By lunchtime the sun was out and the mist burnt off but another scan of the paddock fences in East Malling (and there are a lot of them) failed to turn up a Wheatear or Black Redstart.  However, looking to the skies I was pleased to see another 3x Buzzards drifting N over Paris Farm, East Malling with a Sparrowhawk drifting high above them.

A Mistle Thrush, hugging the ground and twisting it's neck around snake-like, made my heart beat that bit faster, I thought I might have an early Wryneck - but a second bird joined it and it showed itself for what it really was!

Mistle Thrushes - the right-hand bird was 'snaking' it's head around and lying low in the grass ala Wryneck!

I took a quick look at Ditton Quarry - Chiffchaffs singing but nothing else out of the ordinary.  I checked out the 'orchid' rosettes that Greenie has been prodding me to check.  Here's some pics Greenie - I've got a feeling they're Bee Orchids (?).

Lots of Bee flies around the quarry walls, no doubt females depositing eggs around the burrow entrances of the solitary bees that live there.

Thursday 24th March 2011

Another cracking day but I was mostly confined to meetings and the office so no sightings to report except these two:

Hot air balloon and helicopter drifting over East Malling early this morning.

...and guess who was on board (click here)!

Another 'sundog' (above the plane)

..oh, and a bat species by the North St allotments, Barming at dusk last night (Wednesday) as I cycled back to work.

Wednesday 23rd March 2011

Wall to wall sunshine and warm with it, and the first outing on my shorts this year!  The Nuthatch was calling loudly from the Oaks near the allotments at the top of North Street and a Covey of 5x Bullfinches picked at the few unfurled buds on a hawthorn bush. All the East Malling Paddocks were checked this morning, and a bird on a distant fence post got my heart racing for a Wheatear...but it turned out to be a Meadow Pipit and was eventually joined by nine others. A rare sight for this part of the patch were a pair of Mallards on a small roadside pool just off The Rocks Road.

A quick sortie at lunchtime into Barming Woods looking for reptiles once again drew a blank despite there being some ideal sun-baked habitats for them.

A good tally of 5x Peacocks and 1x Comma sunned themselves on the cinder path at the west end of Oaken Wood.

A Bee Fly hovered around some emerging Coltsfoot and 3x Chiffchaffs flitted and called through the coppice.

Well it makes a change from using arrows!

Best sighting of the day, and unfortunately not recorded with a photo, were 5x Common Buzzards by Dilly Rogers as they soared and displayed over the Research Station, East Malling at 16:30 before slowly drifting N towards the Medway Gap - nice spot Dill! There seem to quite a few Common Buzzards on the move at the moment, with good numbers migrating across the E of the county (see PlanetThanet)

Tuesday 22nd March 2011

The sun was slow to break through, but had disappeared again by lunchtime.  Highlights of my cycle in to work were 8x Meadow Pipits on the wires by the Paris Farm paddocks, East Malling and 3x Chiffchaffs and 5x Jays on the ride gown the bridleway adjacent to Gallagher's Gallop.  Not much at lunchtime so I did a few botanical studies!  Finally a Spitfire mid-afternoon, seen from the office, heading low, NE over the Research Station - possibly returning from East Grinstead (Guinea pig club flyby)?

Monday 21st March 2011

Foggy start with a distant Pheasant hidden in the mist at the top of Gallagher's Gallop.  A couple of Chiffchaffs called and a scan of the East Malling Paddocks turned up a Little Owl, but no migrants.

By lunchtime the sun was out and it was warm...whey hey!  A quick cycle back around the Oaken Wood track turned looking for butterflies and reptiles turned up 3x Commas -  a perfect day for them.  Skylarks exalted from ever field, I must have heard about six on patch today.